Eric Cirella named head baseball coach

salvetoday Posted On May 30, 2013
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Eric Cirella ’05 has been named the fifth head coach in the history of Salve Regina’s baseball program, succeeding his father, Steve Cirella, who is retiring as head coach after 14 seasons and will remain involved in the program as an assistant.

Cirella, a member of the Salve Regina Athletic Hall of Fame, played for four seasons at the University and became the first Seahawk to earn three Academic All-America honors, doing so at three different positions.

While leading his teammates to the 2005 conference championship and the program’s second appearance in the NCAA Division III regional championships, Cirella also became a two-time All-America and earned college baseball’s highest honor – ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America of the Year. He led the nation in batting (.504) and walks (49) during his senior season and established .447 as the individual career-best batting average at Salve Regina.

The following season, Cirella assisted his father as the program established a school record for most wins in a single season (32). He spent the next six years as an assistant with the University of Rhode Island baseball program before returning as associate head baseball coach with the Seahawks in 2012-2013.

“I am truly grateful to be given the opportunity to coach in a place that is so near and dear to my heart,” Cirella said. “I believe Salve Regina is just scratching the surface, both athletically and academically. I want to thank [director of athletics] Colin Sullivan for showing so much confidence in me as a coach, a mentor and as an ambassador to the University.

“I also want to thank my father for leaving me with a program that is so high in morale,” he said. “I couldn’t ask for a better bunch of student-athletes to inherit, as well as a more caring and passionate group of alumni that have supported this program over the past two decades.”

Steve Cirella ends his reign as head coach with the most wins (318) in program history after reaching the 300-victory plateau April 1 with an 8-5 triumph over Becker College. During his tenure, the Seahawks captured a pair of Commonwealth Coast Conference championships, advanced to both the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) and NCAA tournaments twice, and captured an ECAC championship in 2004.